The booming seal population attracts great white sharks and the sharks attract OCEARCH, a 126 foot non-profit research vessel where scientists and fishers work together to capture and tag great whites. For more about OCEARCH, check out this post.

This month, OCEARCH is off Cape Cod in what could be the largest great white shark expedition in U.S. history. The expedition runs through August 29 and researchers are hoping to tag 10-20 great whites. Once the shark is caught, the team only has 15 minutes to take blood and tissue samples, check for any health problems, fit it with four tags and get it back into the water.

Check out this great segment from CNN aboard OCEARCH to see what that process looks like.

About the Author

About the Author: Emily Tripp is the Publisher and Editor of MarineScienceToday.com. She holds marine science and biology degrees from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and a Master of Advanced Studies degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. When she's not writing about marine science, she's probably running around outside or playing with her dog. More from this author.

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